Round Square: Every Day a New Adventure in South Africa

Posted on January 25, 2012 by admin

Waking up to a poolside breakfast followed by 18 holes of golf under the hot African sun seems like a suitable way to start off your day. Well, it’s how I begin most of my days here in South Africa. The air is warm, the sun always shines and life is good.

I am 23 days into my journey and have already seen more animals than most people would in their entire lives. From leopards, lions, elephants, hippos, crocodiles, and rhinos, to even small creatures like snakes, lizards, and turtles, not to mention hundreds of different exotic birds. You name it and there’s a good chance I’ve encountered it in one instance or another.

The family I am living with is wonderful and I’d like to say that I am ever grateful for them taking me into their home. I am treated with great hospitality and living on the luxurious side of life. Even though I am living in a high-class community, I am very aware of the social and economic problems that surround me. South Africa is actually one of the most affluent countries in Africa, but it is still a developing country. About a quarter of the population is unemployed and lives on under $2 a day. Crime, sexual assault, and corruption within the government are major issues that face South Africa.

I began school at St Stithians College on January 16. St Stithians College is a Methodist, all boys’ school. The campus is over 105 hectors, and holds almost 3000 students. It may be hard to imagine, but it is over 226 football fields in area. Some students board in dorms on campus, while others live quite close. Apart from the fantastic classes and teachers, St Stithians provides a variety of sport teams and clubs that are open to everyone. I have the privilege of participating in the Chess Club, Photography Club, the Music Club, the Track and Field team, and the Fitness team. St Stithians has been very welcoming to me and the other few exchange students. There are two boys from Columbia and one from England who I’ve been spending quite a bit of time with. The four of us are going on a special trip to the Apartheid Museum tomorrow, the first of many places that we will be visiting.

It has been quite the experience so far, with over a month to go. I learn new things everyday, and am grateful to be a part of Round Square. Who knows what I will do next? Every day is a whole new adventure. – Liam McMahon ’14

Preoccupied Montreal

Posted on January 16, 2012 by admin

I spoke to students recently about a phenomenon I call “Preoccupied Montreal.” Exactly what is ”Preoccupied Montreal”? It is my way to describe our collective obsession with cell phones, smart phones, BlackBerries—or “CrackBerries” as the slang goes. Cell phone/smart phone use can actually be addictive and I have some concerns; in my view too many teenagers and adults are suffering and need to change their habits.

This generation of teenagers has a timeless desire to do what every teenager has ever wanted: to be closely connected to friends. It’s cool and feels good to be “in the know.” So carrying a cell phone makes sense; they quite simply help to make our lives a little easier. However, the temptation to carry the phone wherever you go and check it incessantly rules way too many lives in ways that have become unhealthy.

With the capacity to contact anyone, anywhere anytime comes the odd compulsion among many teens to text, tweet or post statements, opinions, observations, photos or videos on social media, just because they can. The feedback is instant, so clearly someone is listening: someone cares.

Recent studies show that teenagers across North America send on average 100 texts/day, more than double just a few years ago. Most teens surveyed say that the cell phone is now the key to their social lives. In fact, data shows that on average, when out of school, teens spend just as much time texting as they do talking with friends. In fact, texting has become so second nature, about 60% of teens surveyed claim to be able to text blindfolded.

However, the 24/7 compulsion to connect without boundaries is unhealthy and can steal balance from young lives. Some of these digital addicts are even losing sleep, even though sleep is one of the most important elements of their lives they can control. Notably, sleep has a direct correlation with better performance in school. Eight or more hours of sleep per night can translate into a 10% improvement in achievement simply because sleep stabilizes and protects memory and other brain functions.

There are now a lot of studies that show that a lack of “down time” is detrimental to us—teens and adults alike. We all need to be out of reach sometimes and avoid being interrupted. This shield of protection should also extend to family meals, quiet discussions with friends, outdoor activities.

I don’t suggest we throw away the technology. We need it. I think it can really help out lives. But who’s “driving the bus“ here, you or the cell phone? We’ve allowed it to seep into every corner of our lives. It’s time to create some no-go cell use zones and times in our lives beyond school. Limit its use and call back later. By then you’ll have something more interesting to say anyway.

Seize the now. Be in the moment. This applies to adults as well. We adults are often the worst offenders. Blurring borders between work and family/personal time generally means more stress and more unwanted cranky moments. So take steps to define better boundaries. Make this the topic of discussion at tonight’s family dinner table. But first, turn off the “CrackBerry” more often in 2012 and enjoy not being interrupted! —Chris Shannon, Headmaster

LCC’s Girls Hockey & Basketball Teams Journey to Boston

Posted on December 20, 2011 by admin

Lower Canada College’s girls hockey and girls basketball teams recently travelled to Boston on a trip that included four days of touring, bonding and some games against local area teams hosted at Pingree School. While both teams had an opportunity to share some time together, their differing tournament schedules also necessitated the pursuit of distinct itineraries. (See photos)

Following an afternoon check-in at their hotel on Thursday afternoon, both teams headed to downtown Boston where players had an opportunity to browse the various shops and boutiques of Newbury Street, followed by dinner at the original ‘Cheers’ near Boston Common. The next morning, both teams headed out early for a full day of activities and games. The girls hockey team visited the New England Aquarium, where they pet sharks and kissed sea lions–developed a flash mob dance routine, had clam chowder in a bread bowl for lunch at Joe’s followed by cannoli for desert from Mike’s Pastries in Little Italy. Their afternoon also included a tour of the Holocaust Memorial and an afternoon reprieve at Quincy Market. After a full day of touring, they headed out to their first tournament match against Marblehead High School, where they played a closely fought match against a tough opponent.

Meanwhile, the basketball girls had started their day out at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, followed by an extensive tour of Boston College, with the day culminating in a basketball game against Pingree School.

On Saturday, both teams spent the bulk of their days playing exciting, competitive hockey and basketball against local teams. Once again, the hockey team broke out into their dance routine, much to the entertainment of the local crowd, while Desiray Desousa impressed us all during the skills competition with her 100-km/hour slap shot! The day ended with both teams having dinner together at the Cheesecake Factory in Danvers.

On Sunday, the hockey team started its day with a march up to Bunker Hill, followed by an extensive tour, on all decks, of the still active 1797 battleship, the USS Constitution. The hockey team then headed back to Little Italy for lunch at ‘Lucia’s’, and ended their Boston Expedition with a final ‘flash mob’ dance routine at Boston’s Quincy Market, which was full of holiday shoppers. (See video) Meanwhile, the girl’s Basketball team toured the New England Aquarium and ended their day with some shopping at Quincy Market.

Players and coaches had an outstanding time. There was a lot of laughter and many lifetime memories were forged. Both teams represented LCC exceptionally well. A very special thanks goes out to our bus driver at Coach Canada, Franco, who was always accommodating, pleasant and professional. – Christian Auclair, Girls Hockey Team Coach

Discovery Day at the Montreal Neurological Institute

Posted on December 13, 2011 by admin

Last Tuesday, LCC’s grade 11 enriched physics and chemistry class went to the Montreal Neurological Institute for an exciting day of seminars and presentations given by doctors, researchers and grad students. Along with approximately 300 students from Montreal-area schools, we participated in the annual regional edition of the TD Discovery Day. The Discovery Day is a program funded by TD Bank that gives students from across Canada, who are interested in pursuing careers in health sciences, the opportunity to visit hospitals and also talk with doctors and other health care professionals to get a better sense of what the field is actually like.

In the morning, upon our arrival, we sat down in a large auditorium at the Neuro to listen to the chairman of the Discovery Days program tell us about the goals of the program. She then introduced the first keynote speaker, Dr. Phil Gold, who talked about his career as a doctor and about how he got into medicine. After that, we attended our first seminar session, of which there would be two. My first seminar was called “Anatomy of the Human Brain,” and it proved to be very interesting. It was taught by four McGill neurology students and for an hour and a half they lectured about the brain and the various functions of the different cortexes, or zones. At the end of the seminar, we even had the chance to touch a real human brain and see what the different cortexes actually look like in real life. That was really cool!

After lunch, we attended our second seminar, which was given by a speech pathologist who spoke about speech impediments and, more specifically, how to treat them. We got to see and touch all of the various devices that speech pathologists use to do their jobs, such as artificial larynxes and text to speech converters, which was very interesting. When that was over, we returned to the auditorium for a final keynote. It was a panel of five health professionals who talked about their jobs and listened and responded to questions asked by the audience. This was cool because we got to hear about the daily lives of real health professionals and ask them questions about their jobs.

At the end of the day we returned to school, wiser, more experienced, and, for some of us, more passionate about what we want to do with our futures. — Giulian Etingin-Frati ’12

Our African Experience and HIV/Aids

Posted on December 12, 2011 by admin

This past summer, Melissa and I embarked on the trip of a lifetime. Not knowing anyone, we signed up to go on a community service trip to South Africa, Botswana and Zambia. All we knew was that the food may or may not be good, the people we’d meet may or may not speak English and the bugs may or may not give us malaria. What we didn’t know was that HIV/Aids would be the topic of conversation for 12 days out of our 25-day trip. We had known that Sub-Saharan Africa was more infected with Aids than the rest of the world. Out of all 35 million people infected with HIV/Aids, 25 million of them live in this region. But we didn’t understand that the majority of the people infected had little to no understanding of how to save their own lives.

To our knowledge, the first community we visited was where HIV/Aids had the most impact out of the rest of the towns we went to. This township was called Acornhoek, located just west of the famous Kruger National Park in South Africa. Acornhoek has a population of 150,000 people. 50% of this community is infected with HIV/Aids, which means 75,000 people are infected. The average income in this region is 300 to 1000 rand a month, which translates to a maximum of 120 dollars per month, which only covers 14% of the monthly cost of ARV’s, the aids treatment medication that lessens the symptoms. The cost of ARV’s is from $10,000 to $15,000 a person PER YEAR or $833 PER MONTH. This fact is not only extremely sad, but it is also very scary.

We worked five days in a smaller village within Acornhoek, at the Sihlekisi Primary School. This school was government funded, however, the caliber of the teachers and the curriculum was questionable. In the schools, they learn very basic things about HIV/Aids prevention, but it is often times countered by the stigmas in their culture. Another problem is that the things they learn about HIV/Aids are in English, and the children understand very little English. The children were on their break when we were there, so they came to schoolyard everyday to play, and everyday they returned wearing the same dusty clothes, the same bare feet and the same smile running from ear to ear. Despite the 50% chance that these kids were fatally ill, and that they were extremely poor, they always had a smile on their faces and were ready for any game of soccer or any hand game we had prepared. The hardest part was that we couldn’t believe that our new little friends might be sick. It didn’t make sense to us that a child so happy and so pure could have HIV/Aids. The realization when we were given the 50% statistic hit us like a brick. It just made no sense.

One of the nights we spoke with an older Afrikaans man named Pieter; he owned the lodge that we stayed at near Acornhoek. He was the man who told us of the fate of 50% of the children, and he explained the stigmas of the native African people in Acornhoek. The first stigma he explained was the city theory. This theory is that women believe HIV/Aids come from the city, mainly Johannesburg. They believed this because the men often go away to work in Johannesburg for six months at time. When they are there, the women believe that they get lonely and hire prostitutes. When they come back home to their isolated villages, they force their wives to have unprotected sex because they view condoms as a symbol of betrayal and distrust. More often than not the women, the men and their children wind up getting infected, which only validates the assumption women make that their husbands are cheating on them.

Once contracting HIV/Aids, the people view it as a consequence to sinning and are completely shunned. Women will hide when they bottle-feed their children, as using bottles is a sign of sickness. Another reason to be shunned in these types of villages is to want a better life. The people who leave to get higher education in Johannesburg or Cape Town often times cannot return home, because they are seen as traitors who leave their families behind. This causes a lot of trouble because we all know that with education comes knowledge on prevention and, obviously, success. A successful person within these communities is exactly what they need for motivation, and that very rarely happens because people do not want to be excommunicated.

Another one the major problems is the government’s release of false prevention tactics. In 2005, a 31-year-old woman who was known to have HIV accused Jacob Zuma, who is now president of South Africa, of rape. Jacob Zuma insisted that it was consensual, however the girl still kept pressing charges. The problem in all this was that it came up that he did not use a condom, even though he knew she had HIV. In response to that, Zuma stated that he took a shower to, quote on quote, “cut the risk of contracting HIV.” HIV/Aids specialists and health educators tried desperately to clear this mess, however, in a country where HIV/Aids is so widespread, it is RIDICULOUS that a political leader would say something so untrue and detrimental to the health of his own country.

Many of the children in these towns have been orphaned by the HIV/Aids epidemic. Since many of middle-aged parents are dying due to the sickness, the grandparents of the children end up being their caretakers. The elderly have no source of income because they are too old to work. Essentially, this also makes them too old to care for children, and the government has no pensions or funding for guardians. Currently, there are very few organizations that care for the elderly. Since the grandparents and parents of children have such a high mortality rate, children very often become orphaned, which has grave consequences. When children, mainly young girls, cannot support their families, they resort to prostitution. This leads us back to the spreading of HIV/Aids mentioned before. The entire process seems to go around in circles.

After our trip, we came home with so much more insight on what our role was in the future pertaining to HIV/Aids prevention. This trip has forever made us activists on what Africa really needs in order to stop this epidemic. They don’t need shoes, because they won’t wear them. They don’t need toys, because that causes dependence. They need money for ARV medication, they need care for the elderly, and they need knowledge and a change of view on condoms. What they really need is access to education – not the tangible things we can give them. They need to learn how to take care of themselves, because if we do it for them, they will never learn. The money you all have donated to the Stephen Lewis Foundation will give them treatment, care for the elderly and education. When it comes to Africa, give back in ways that will improve health and education, because with health and education comes a better life.

Help prevent HIV/Aids, help save Africa, help save the world. Thank you.—Melissa Cape ’12, Alexandra Storozum ’12